Main menu

Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

DayBreaks for 7/26/18: What a Mystery!

NOTE: Galen is on vacation this week and may be unable to respond to email.

From the DayBreaks archive, July 2008:

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) – Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’

Immanuel = God with us.

John 14:16 (KJV) – And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever…

In Revelation 4:8, we have a description of the worship of the angels: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

In his excellent little book, God in the Flesh, Don Everts has focused on the “black” letters of the gospel story – not the red letters that were the words of Jesus, but the black letters that form the screenplay and commentary that captures the details that took place around Jesus, and the things that others said about him. At one point, in a chapter on worship and how people reacted to Jesus (those of clean hearts universally worshiped him!), Everts asks a very serious and probing question: “Is it really Yahweh who lives inside me? I mean, really. The Spirit of Jesus that has made a home within me – is it the real presence of fiery, jealous, powerful, divine Yahweh? Or is it a cute, lesser, diminished part of the Trinity?”

At one level, theologically and intellectually we have a very quick answer to that question: yes, it is Yahweh who lives within us. And yet…and yet…have we really grasped that the One who is worshipped by untold myriads of angels and the four living creatures day and night, who sing without ceasing to the worship and glory and praise of Yahweh – have we grasped that this is the One who lives in me? In you? How can it possibly be???? “That’s a mystery,” wrote Everts.

What difference would there be in how we live if we were able to really grasp Who it is that lives inside us? What if we really did die to ourselves so that Jesus could live HIS life through us?

PRAYER: We can scarcely believe your promises to us, to never leave us, to abide in us. These are great promises and we feel and act weak and defeated at the first hint of temptation. May we become possessed by the knowledge of your life within us, empowering us, leading and directing us, and giving us victory over sin. May we get ourselves out of the way by dying to ourselves so that You may live Your perfect life through us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DayBreaks for 11/08/17: The Crushing Weight

From the DayBreaks archive, November 2007:

How do you deal with pressure? Some folks love it, others hate it. Pressure can come from a variety of sources: it can be imposed from someone in authority telling you want to do and when it has to be done, or from having wasted precious time when you could have been working on something important. It can be generated by the manipulative expectations of parents, children, spouses or friends. We can generate our own pressure based on unreasonable and impossible expectations we place on ourselves. Other pressures are more physical: that squeezing of the chest that indicates a heart attack or the weight of a car falling on top of you.

The following comes from Sidney Greidanus’ book, Preaching Christ from Genesis: “The nuclear submarine Thresher had heavy steel bulkheads and heavy steel armor, so it could dive deep and withstand the pressure of the ocean. Unfortunately, on a test run in 1963, the Thresher’s nuclear engine quit, and it could not get back to the surface. It sank deeper and deeper into the ocean. The pressure became immense. The heavy steel bulkheads buckled; the Thresher was crushed with 129 people inside.

“The Navy searched for the Thresher with a research craft that was much stronger than submarines. It was shaped like a steel ball and was lowered into the ocean on a cable. They finally located the Thresher at a depth of 8,400 feet: one and a half miles down. It was crushed like an egg shell. That was not a surprise, for the pressure at that depth is tremendous—3,600 pounds per square inch.

“What was surprising to the searchers was that they saw fish at that great depth. And these fish did not have inches of steel to protect them. They appeared to have normal skin, a fraction of an inch thick. How can these fish survive under all that pressure? How come they are not crushed by the weight of the water? They have a secret. Their secret is that they have the same pressure inside themselves as they have on the outside. Survival under pressure.

“John assures us, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” We will be victorious in the battle against Satan because Jesus poured his Spirit into our hearts. “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

If we don’t have the Spirit functioning inside of us, we, like the Thresher, will be crushed by the enemy. Alone, we are not able to sustain our lives under his relentless pressuring attacks. Is it any wonder that we fail when we struggle against Satan in our own strength and wisdom? We must be filled with the overflowing of the Spirit to survive, and not just to survive, but to thrive in our situation.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (NIV) – For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

PRAYER: Daily, Lord, we are put under pressure to compromise and surrender the ground You’ve given us to protect. Fill us up completely, so that not only are we equal to the pressure, but that the Spirit within us will flow out of each pore of our bodies and souls that Your glory and goodness may abound! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DayBreaks for 8/02/17: Defeating the Philistines

From the DayBreaks archive, August 2007:

It doesn’t take much for me these days, to get incensed. I just recently spent time talking with several people about the state of the world today. We talked at some length about the madness that seems to have seized the headlines, if not the word itself, that believes that it is perfectly legitimate to blow up another human being (and the more the merrier), or to cut the heads off human beings in front of cameras for no reason than to strike terror into the minds of people around the world. Sadly, all you need do is turn on the television or connect to the Internet and you’ll get what amounts to an hour-by-hour reporting of these kinds of atrocities.

Why do such things happen? I muse on the topic. I can blame certain religions, that to my knowledge, seem to have no concept of grace. I can blame the culture in which these people grew up and were educated. I could blame the press, I could blame their parents. But I think the real answer is that in such people, we are seeing the unregenerate nature of mankind at its most exposed. We are seeing human nature without any of the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit. It’s not a flattering portrait of our species.

What do we do to defeat such Philistines? Mark Buchanan, in Hidden in Plain Sight reminds us: “…the Spirit of God is a living Person, an equal part of the Triune God, who desires to fill us and guide us and teach us and comfort us and counsel us, and to help us bear much fruit. But he’s humble and gentle, the Spirit, and needs inviting. And though the Spirit loves to anoint us for ministry in order to make us God-like in strength, even more he desires to fill us for daily living in order to make us Christlike in humility. More than endowing us with the might to slay the Philistines out there, the Spirit wants to strengthen us with grace to slay the Philistine in here.”

Each and every one of us want to believe the best about ourselves, don’t we? That we are good, at least basically good, that we don’t torture cats and dogs and that we’d never abuse women or children. We want to believe that while others act like Philistines, that we would never act that way.

I think we should probably re-evaluate ourselves if we think that way. I doubt that the people who held the feet of Jesus, or who swung the hammer to drive the nails home, would have ever felt that they would be so vile as to kill the Son of God. Paul certainly couldn’t see that he was putting God’s beloved children to death until the bright light struck him on the Damascus road and revealed the truth about his own nature and deeds.

It’s easy to get down on the Philistines “out there” or “over there.” It’s easy to think that they need to change. And they do. We should pray that they will be touched with the love of Christ and empowered to live by the Spirit. But we need to fight the Philistines that live in the darkened recesses of our lives lest we become like those we would decry in the name of all that his holy and just.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV) – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize”

PRAYER: Jesus, teach us to search our hearts and realize the depth of our deceitfulness and unrighteousness. Help us to understand that without the power of Your Spirit, there would be nothing to set us apart from the most depraved person on the face of this earth. Thank You for the privilege that we have of knowing You and help us understand how precious that gift is! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DayBreaks for 4/27/16 – He Whispers to Us

Stashed away in a drawer or box in many an attic, nearly forgotten, is a batch of old 33 and 45 rpm records from the ’50s and early ’60s. Worn and scratchy, long since outdated by the flashy digital technology of compact discs and .mpe downloads, these primitive vinyls were once the jewels of a great treasure trove. Elvis’ grinding out “Hound Dog,” Buddy Holly and the Crickets’ hiccuping “Peggy Sue,” Chuck Berry’s joyful hot licks in “Maybellene,” the Coasters’ slapstick tour de force “Charlie Brown,” the mournful “Tears On My Pillow” by Little Anthony and the Imperials, the impenetrable and probably scandalous “Louie, Louie” by the Kingsmen, and the teenaged gropings of the Paris Sisters’ “I Love How You Love Me” — they are all there, and more.

Here and there in this dusty stack, one may find an occasional recording by the great blues master Jimmy Reed. A share-cropper’s son, Reed brought the throbbing harmonica-and-guitar-driven black rhythm-and-blues of the Mississippi Delta into the popular rock-and-roll mainstream. Maybe you and your high school friends, long ago fancying yourselves a budding rock band, would play and replay these recordings — “Big Boss Man,” “Bright Lights, Big City,” “Hush, Hush,” “Baby What You Want Me To Do” — trying to imitate Reed’s hypnotic rhythms on your cheap Silvertone electric guitars, attempted in vain to capture the pain-soaked cries of his mahogany voice in your too-tight, too-white, suburban throats.

However, in placing the phonograph needle again and again in the grooves of Jimmy Reed’s records, one could begin to notice something curious. If one listened very carefully, there could sometimes be heard, ever so faintly in the background, a soft woman’s voice murmuring in advance the next verse of the song. The story that grew up around this — and perhaps it is true — was that Jimmy Reed was so absorbed in the bluesy beat and the throbbing guitar riffs of his music that he simply could not remember the words of his own songs. He needed help with the lyrics, and the woman’s voice was none other than that of his wife, devotedly coaching her husband through the recording session by whispering the upcoming stanzas into his ear as he sang.

Whether or not this story is accurate, Christians will surely recognize a parallel experience. Jesus tells his followers that the role of the Holy Spirit is, in effect, to whisper the lyrics of the gospel song in the ears of the faithful. When Jesus was present, he was the one who instilled in them the right words, coached them through the proper verses, taught them the joyful commandments. But as Jesus approached his death, drawing near to his time of departure, knowing that the disciples would be on their own without him, that task is to be handed over to the Holy Spirit.

We are often afraid that we don’t know what to say, or that we’ll say something wrong…and so we say nothing at all. Listen for His whisper. Speak up what you hear Him say to you!

PRAYER: Help us be still enough to hear the whisperings of Your gentle Spirit and trust that He will give us what we are to say as we sing Your love song to the world! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

NOTE: This week DayBreaks are from the archive as Galen is out of the country. He will respond to messages after he returns.

Sent in by a DayBreaks reader (thanks, Bridget!): If you were to climb into a submarine you might think that, as long as it held watertight, you could glide on down to the bottom of the ocean. Sadly, if you tried to do this you’d soon discover how mistaken you are. Submarines can only go so deep before the pressure of the water crushes them like an empty soft drink can crumpled by your hand. Indeed, a number of years ago submarine called the Thresher went down too deep. The water pressure rose to the point that the submarines heavy steel bulkheads were crushed. The sub was torn apart, leaving pieces of debris scattered across the ocean floor for searchers to find.

If you want to go down really deep you need a specially designed research vessel shielded by heavy armor. Now imagine you jumped into one of these heavily clad research vessels and headed down to the ocean depths. Guess what you’d find? Fish. Fish! Fish with skin just millimeters thick.

How is it that fish with just a thin skin covering can survive the pressure of such great depths, where a submarine with thick steel plates cannot?

The answer is quite simple: fish have equal and opposite pressure inside them. Submarines do not.

When confronting the pressures of sin some Christians try to become like a submarine, shielding themselves from the outside world, strapping themselves into a narrow space where they are safe from external pressures. They make rules which are designed to reinforce them against temptation. But unfortunately, the deeper into life we go the more inadequate this approach will be. The external pressure will just become too great.

This is why we need to be like the fish, to develop positive pressure inside ourselves. Rather than simply resisting the outward pressure of temptation we need to combat it by building up positive spiritual pressure within, replacing the values the world would impose with the Spirit developed character of Christ. – Adapted from the Internet, Author Unknown

Is your life being properly balanced? If you seem to be losing the fight to external pressures, fill the inner sanctum of your soul with the presence of the Spirit and the Word He delivered.

Copyright by 2005 Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

PRAYER: Fill us with Your Spirit so we can withstand the pressures of this world and go deeper with You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

To unsubscribe to DayBreaks, click here: DayBreaks-unsubscribe@vineyardhills.org NOTE: Please make sure you send the email from the email address which is subscribed to DayBreaks, or the list server will not be able to locate your email to delete you as you request. Or, if you no longer have that email address, email Galen (click below) and tell him your old email address and ask to be unsubscribed.

John 3:8 (NIV) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Acts 2:2 (ESV) And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Why is it that all my life when I imagined the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost that the sound was not that of a “mighty” wind? Perhaps it is because I picture it taking place inside a room and while a breeze may flow through a room, a mighty wind doesn’t. I don’t know. But Scripture is clear: it was a mighty rushing wind!

Of course, the word for Spirit in Scripture is from the Greek pneuma, which can mean wind. That’s why Jesus, in John 3:8 speaks of the wind and likens it to the Spirit.

While we’ve been living in Georgia these past few months, we’ve had some mighty winds during several of our storms! Georgia is covered with forest. Twice in the last week we’d have winds that were strong – gusting 40 miles per hour or so, and whenever it gets like that, I can’t help but wonder if a tall Georgia pine will come crashing down on our dwelling. It happens frequently here it seems – I’m sure that’s due to the preponderance of trees so close to homes and buildings. On occasion, one hears of a boat capsizing and people being drown as a result of high winds.

The wind is very powerful. It can snap trees like match sticks (witness the destruction wrought by hurricane Katrina and tsunamis, or tornadoes). Jesus said that the work of the Spirit is like the power and unpredictability of the wind. In Hebrew, Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) carries with it the concept of the power and force the wind possesses to change and move things. The Spirit of God is no weakling!

Sometimes, as we sail through life, the wind dies down and we barely move. In Ephesians 5:18, we are told to be filled with the Spirit (or, alternatively, “be filled with the Wind”). Get the picture: it is time to raise our sails and let the Spirit fill them! What we have do to is set our sails through prayer, fasting and a willing heart and let the Spirit provide the momentum!

Spread your sails. Let the Ruach Elohim push you onward!

PRAYER: Thank you for the power of the mighty Spirit. Help us learn to set our sails so that we can be propelled by His will and move in His direction! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2014 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

To subscribe to DayBreaks, use this link: https://daybreaksdevotions.wordpress.com and click on the Subscribe button at the right of the page. If you wish to unsubscribe, at the bottom of each email you receive about DayBreaks, you should find an “Unsubscribe” ink at the bottom of the email.

NOTE: Galen is a missionary with Medical Ambassadors International (MAI) and raises his own support. DayBreaks is free – and will remain so – but if you wish to help Galen in his ministry work, you can donate on his behalf. Donations (one-time or recurring) may be made by going to this link: http://www.medicalambassadors.org/donate.html. Look down the left side of the page until you find the SUPPORT MISSIONARIES section then click on “Galen Dalrymple” and you’ll be taken to PayPal where you can make your donation. If you prefer to donate via check, you may do so by writing your check payable to Medical Ambassadors International and put S090 in the “memo” field. Mail the check to Medical Ambassadors International, P.O. Box 1302, Salida, CA 95368. All donations are tax deductible as MAI is a 501.c.3 organization certified with both the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and Guidestar.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.- Romans 8:11

Did you catch that? The Spirit that was the power that raised Jesus from the dead LIVES IN YOU. What kind of power does it take to raise a dead body? Power, real, incredible power! And that power lives in you! But are you experiencing the benefit of that?

The Spirit is called many things in scripture, but the word comes from the Greek, pneuma, which means breath or wind. Many English words come from it: pneumonia, pneumatic, etc. It helps when we recall that in the creation story, that God ”breathes” into Adam the breath of life. What was God doing? Breathing the spirit into Adam, who then became a living soul.

I have come to the point in my life where I recognize that the greatest challenge in the Christian walk isn’t dealing with temptation, guilt, sin, loving our enemies, forgiveness or anything like that. I believe that all those struggles are just symptoms of one problem: failure to walk in the Spirit. It is no surprise intellectually to believers that the Spirit is supposed to be the Power we receive from God to live holy lives. But there’s a gap between knowing that and experiencing it.

I recently came across a simple spiritual discipline that we can incorporate into our lives to help us be more aware of the Spirit, His Presence, and to walk in His power. Bill Bright, from Campus Crusade, taught a spiritual exercise called “Spiritual Breathing”, and it goes like this:

First, whenever you are aware of a sin in your life, exhale – literally breathe out and repent of the sin, confess it. Repentance will eventually become a natural response and clears out spaces in our heart so the Spirit can fill us. So, whenever you are proud, jealous, lustful, mean, impatient, unforgiving, whatever, exhale and repent of the sin. That’s the first part. I’ve found it helpful as I exhale to say to myself, “I’m breathing out the spirit of fear/pride/envy, etc.” as I confess it to God.

SECOND: inhale – and as you do, pray to be filled with the Spirit and give up control to Him. This is living in step with the Spirit and it builds a continuous awareness of the Spirit’s presence and leads to a constant prayer to be filled with His power. I’ve added to this practice to consciously say to myself “I’m breathing in the spirit of trust/humility/contentment, etc.” (i.e., whatever is the opposite of what I was focused on while I exhaled and confessed).

This practice of spiritual breathing will seem unnatural, and perhaps contrived, at first. It may seem weird or spacey to you, a bit off the deep end, perhaps. Why? Because we were never taught to stay in step with the Spirit. Don’t give up with this discipline/practice! It takes a while for a kid to learn to walk – it requires lots of concentration to start with – but eventually it is completely natural and you don’t even think about it. The same will happen with Spiritual Breathing – you’ll become more aware of His Presence and Power and what will feel awkward to start with will become second nature.

PRAYER: Holy Spirit, teach us to walk in Your holiness and power. Help us be aware moment by moment of Your Presence and to learn to live empowered by You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2011 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

To subscribe to DayBreaks, use this link: https://daybreaksdevotions.wordpress.com and click on the Subscribe button at the right of the page. If you wish to unsubscribe, you also click on the Subscribe button at and select the Unsubscribe drop-down.